Prep basketball roundup: Justin Pippen leads rally by Sierra Canyon over No. 1 Harvard-Westlake
Down by eight points with six minutes left, Sierra Canyon turned to Justin Pippen’s shooting and stellar defense to go on an 18-0 run and knock off defending state Open Division champion Harvard-Westlake 74-68 on Friday night at a sold-out Mission League game in Chatsworth.
Sierra Canyon improved to 21-1 and 5-0 in the Mission League, setting up a showdown for first place against unbeaten Sherman Oaks Notre Dame next Friday at Sierra Canyon.
Pippen’s long-range shots ignited the Trailblazers during their fourth-quarter run and sent Harvard-Westlake (20-3, 3-2) to its second straight defeat after starting the week ranked No. 1 by The Times. Pippen made six three-pointers and finished with 24 points.
Nikolas Khamenia had 21 points and Trent Perry 19 for Harvard-Westlake, which held a 36-31 lead. Sierra Canyon received strong play off the bench from Isaiah Elohim, who just started playing recently and is on a minutes restriction while coming back from an injury.
The game featured Dodgers star Mookie Betts and former Sierra Canyon star Amari Bailey among the celebrities in the crowd.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 94, Chaminade 80: The Knights improved to 21-0 as Mercy Miller scored 31 points, Lino Mark and Zachary White had 21 points and Bronson Schmidt-Uili added 16 rebounds. Jonas Goldman led Chaminade with 33 points.
St. Francis 47, Bishop Alemany 45: Mazi Mosley scored 19 points to help the Golden Knights come back from a 17-point deficit going into the fourth quarter.
Crespi 54, Loyola 39: Peyton White led a balanced attack with 11 points for Crespi.
Mater Dei 82, Orange Lutheran 39: The Monarchs stayed unbeaten in the Trinity League. Joe Keegan scored 16 points off the bench. Brannon Martinsen had 17 points. Luke Barnett made three three-pointers. Mater Dei is 21-1.
St. John Bosco 65, JSerra 58: The Braves stayed one game behind Mater Dei in the Trinity League race as Brandon McCoy scored 19 points and Elzie Harrington 17. Aidan Fowler led JSerra with 27 points.
Birmingham 61, Cleveland 44: The Patriots took control of the West Valley League race behind Alex Dupre, who contributed 28 points. Dupre has been the key figure since moving to point guard.
Chatsworth 80, Taft 38: Alijah Arenas finished with 51 points and 14 rebounds for Chatsworth.
Bernstein 85, Mendez 25: Troy Agtang scored 17 points for 19-4 Bernstein.
Palisades 48, Westchester 44: The Dolphins handed the Comets (6-1) their first loss in Western League play. Muhammed Butler scored 10 points. Grady-Asner scored 27 points for Westchester.
Harvard-Westlake junior Nikolas Khamenia keeps getting stronger, tougher and better on the court for the Wolverines.
Hamilton 59, Fairfax 57: Jaden Depina scored 20 points for Fairfax.
Venice 73, University 58: The Gondoliers pulled into a first-place tie with Westchester in the Western League. Kenyon Alexander and Rodrigo Trujillo each had 18 points.
Crenshaw 94, Dorsey 29: King Peterson scored 20 points and Jeremiah Blackmon 18 for Crenshaw.
Grant 87, Monroe 27: Anthony Minnoy had 21 points for Grant, which is 7-0 in the East Valley League.
Sun Valley Poly 52, Arleta 48: JD Wyatt had 39 points for Poly.
Westlake 63, Oaks Christian 43: Austin Maziasz led Westlake (18-5, 4-1) with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Oak Park 52, Simi Valley 42: Sophomore Jadon Holmes contributed 16 points for Oak Park.
Calabasas 59, Agoura 55: Tidiane Sy scored 22 points for Calabasas (15-7).
Camarillo 55, Moorpark 52: Tyler Hook scored 20 points for the Scorpions.
La Mirada 85, Lynwood 77: Julien Gomez and Gene Roebuck each finished with 22 points for La Mirada (18-7). Jason Crowe Jr. scored 38 points for Lynwood.
Los Alamitos 82, Huntington Beach 66: The Griffins (19-4) received 23 points from Samori Guyness.
Foothill 56, Anaheim Canyon 43: Isaiah Bernard finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Foothill, which is 16-7 overall and 3-0 in league.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 61, St. Anthony 46: Tyrone Riley led the way with 17 points for St. Pius X-St. Matthias, which holds down first place in the Del Rey League.
Arcadia 69, Burbank 61: Mansour Sanneh scored 20 points for 9-1 Arcadia in the Pacific League game.
Culver City 67, Mira Costa 63: Culver City stayed in second place in the Bay League. Eneasi Piuleini had 20 points for Mira Costa.
Crescenta Valley 72, Hoover 42: Vaughn Zargarian led Crescenta Valley (8-2) with 20 points.
Malibu 69, Magnolia 29: Dylan Goosen scored 43 points.
Sierra Canyon is No. 1, Etiwanda No. 2 in Southern California girls’ high school basketball rankings
Girls basketball
Granada Hills 46, El Camino Real 39: Karma Paez scored 16 points to help Granada Hills improve to 4-0 in the West Valley League.
Birmingham 76, Cleveland 32: The Patriots (14-6, 4-0) received 21 points from Nat Lopez.
Westchester 79, Palisades 43: Mariah Blake finished with 25 points for the Comets.
Rosary 60, Santa Margarita 49: Allison Clarke scored 29 points for Rosary.
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